To think this letter from NHS is pathetic?

[MozzchopsThirty]

I no longer work in the clinical area so I have nice gel nails. They are not long or talon like, they are short, neat and usually neutrally coloured.

A few weeks ago I did a shift on my old ward (ITU) and my old ward manager noticed them and asked me to remove them, I explained that I couldn't and she said it was unprofessional and I was setting a bad example!

Now to give some perspective on that shift there were 3 other agency workers from a particular agency who charge approx £400 per shift. I get about £140.
I cared for one patient, gave care as I always would, adhered to hand hygiene and wore gloves for clinical tasks

I've now recieved a letter stating that my conduct was unprofessional and that gel nails must not be worn in the clinical area

Now whilst I appreciate this, and when working in clinical area I never had nails, I can't believe the WM has alerted the temp staff office and they've written to me.

I'm now faced with the choice of removing nails for the sake of one shift every 1-2 months or stop working there and the NHS pay someone else £400 to do my shifts
That's £260 extra for the sake of nails

I'm ð??³ð??³ð??³ð??³ð??³

If your gel nails break the rules then you can't wear them. You're paid by the hospital so they set the rules. Sounds as if you'd be happier doing a different jobs where people's well being wasn't at risk.

I am in awe of ITU nurses. Don't waste all that expertise on gel nails, ffs.

I do a different job Vivien

Sorry I was a bit sharp. I thought you were an agency nurse. But you're not. I suppose the NHS has more problems than gel nails. Not sure what the answer is. But rules is rules.

Gel nails only last 2 to 3 weeks, right? So, could you just be gel free for your irregular shifts or are they ad hoc? I've heard it's good for your nails to be given a break from gel, shellac and similar, so you'd be doing yourself a favour too.

It's ad hoc, they last 3-4 weeks and I can't remove them so I'd have to take them off permanently.
My real nails are horrendous

Have you tried eating cubes of jelly? That's good for nails.

Yanbu
I was so appalled I joined up to give my support. Yes, it is easy to be black and white about "risk" but there is no perpective here.

1 Gel nails CAN'T be removed, you usually have to go back to the salon. Being reprimanded for not taking her nail varnish off then and there is a bit harsh when she cldn't. She did offer to leave immediately instead.

2 All treatments involving patients carry risk. There are very few no risk interventions. So the risk of infection from well maintained gel covered nails may be very small in comparison to other risks, including the risk to patients of having unfamiliar agency staff in.

3 MO made it clear that she doesn't work in clinical usually anymore but did for a long time. Were you expecting to work in itu when u got the nails done?

Since leaving clinical I've embraced the Shellac! Wonderful leaving the NHS in more ways than one, thanks for the reminder.
So are clinical staff "allowed" eyelash extensions then? I really like mine can be a bit pesky falling out at odd times. Now I've left, of course, I think it needs to be infection control policy that nurses are not allowed to wear them. Can these people not put patients life's first, before their appearance? We need Hattie Jaques to come round personally to each ward, shouting at staff, that would sort the situation out.
OP I found leaving clinical one of the best decisions ever made. Nobody ever really lets on it's the other nurses you've got to watch out for. Such a bitchy nasty profession. Admittedly A&E did have more nursing team spirit, elsewhere just horrific. ITU one of the worst, reading your post about the bullying sister, brings it all back.
Looking at my beautiful gel nails, I am never going back. The future is bright OP

Yabu, it's an infection control risk and you spread germs around your patients. Either nurse properly or don't bother.

I understand gel nails can't be removed but if you're not allowed them don't get them! It's as simple as that, they can actually be removed it's called a soak off but you don't want to do that.

Do your gels really last 3 to 4 weeks?! I had shellac and they started chipping at around 12 days. :( I gave up because I couldn't justify the cost when they looked crappy within less than 2 weeks. I asked a nail technician if I should try gel instead and she said, if shellac chips on me, gel won't be much better.

Theres a reason your real nails are awful. The gel nails are damaging them!

But but but...
Fake nails are tacky and minging, you should take them off and burn them. And wear gloves.
(completely and purposely misses point of thread)

I'm more shocked, tbh, that the NHS is paying £400 per shift to an agency - no wonder it's short of money.

No more bank for me

Oh, goody. More for me who has never had gel nails in her NHS career

Hackmum - ITU agency nurses cost more than ward nurses. But yes the NHS nationally is spending a chunk of cash on agency staff. Demand is at an unprecedented level with the volume of admissions. If you work in an acute setting you really can't leave gaps on your wards and hope they won't get slammed with an influx of seriously ill people. They will and the staffing in any case is only the basic level needed. A hole is a huge problem. In the wake of the Francis report a lot of hospitals have uplifted their establishment - quite rightly - but this means as a nurse right now you can largely pick and choose your post. We are advertising all the time and will over recruit if we get the chance but there just aren't the nurses out there. I don't have the impression university recruitment has gone up either. Nurses still get a bursary for their degree. It costs a lot to train them and because of the pressures we aren't keeping them AND it takes three years anyway. It's all a nightmare really. Which is why people like the OP doing bank is a godsend - but not at the cost of sacrificing infection prevention protocol.

YABU. Absolutely.

The fact that you're going on about good hand washing protocol, NO amount of hand washing will clear the bacteria that accumulates under those nails.

If you can't be dressed appropriately then don't do the job. If you work in healthcare then you know the rules, either don't have them at all or be prepared to remove them if you do. What they pay for bank staff has nothing to do with this although I can see why you bring it up as you think it adds weight to your argument.

I loved my gel nails before I qualified but now can't have them, it's a small sacrifice to make.

And those arguing it's only a small thing, well it isn't really. And just because it's a 'small thing' doesn't mean standards should slip.

A couple of years ago the ward manager failed a student nurse because she refused to remove her acrylic nails - why bother going through all that training if you're going to refuse a basic uniform and hygiene requirement!

And if the infection control nurses come around they will bollock you and that ward could risk failing their audit.

Incredibly bossy..it's the doctors who are the minions now believe me, nurses have all the power.

Now? I stopped working for the NHS in the 90s, they had the 'power' ran the wards, stopped junior Drs making stupid mistakes, looked after the patients

Where do nurses have all the power very curious!

^^ Holby City!!

It's really sad to hear about nurses wanting to leave the NHS, I currentley work as a nurse in the NHS and wonder where it will stop. When I hear brices and mozzy talking about how happy they are out of clinical practice it makes me consider leaving.

Like all areas of nursing in the NHS there are huge recruitment problems, I regularly work alongside agency staff getting paid 4 times what I get but who are unable to carry out as many clinical tasks as me (although I am grateful to have them).

I was told recently that the university entry requirements are now so high for nursing it is putting a lot of people off training.

The NHS will implode soon, the working conditions are hard and the physical and emotional toll are difficult to. I'm lucky where I work we have a great team but major recruitment issues. What us the answer?

I don't understand the requirement for degree level entry. Surely if you are capable of doing a nursing degree you are capable of getting a medical degree and getting paid 5x as much?

Your nails vs infection control - not a tough one really.